Butler Women’s Track/C.C. Adds Versatile Recruit

Jun 20, 2011

Butler track and cross country coach Matt Roe added a top
student and athlete to his 2011-12 roster with the signing of
versatile Minnesota high school star Mara Olson. The St.
Louis Park High School standout earned all-state honors in three
sports and ranked No. 1 academically in her suburban Minneapolis
high school class.

“We are excited to Mara join our program,” said Roe of
his newest recruit. “She is an exceptional student, a
tremendously well-rounded athlete and was a leader in high
school. Mara was able to run very quick off a limited amount
of training. We believe she has just begun to scratch her
potential as a runner, and that she will transition well to running
both cross country and track.”

Olson was a six-time state medalist in track and a State 2A
champion in the 1600 meter run in 2008. She finished in the
top six in the mile at the state meet in each of her four high
school seasons, including a fourth place finish this past season in
a personal best time of 5:00.07. She also placed second in
the 3200 meter run twice, with a personal best time of 11:04.0.

Track was just one platform for Olson’s talents. She
was a team captain, team MVP and leading scorer on St. Louis
Park’s girls basketball team in 2010-11, and she was a top
performer on the school’s girls’ soccer team. She
earned honorable mention All-State recognition in both sports.

Olson, who was class Valedictorian with a perfect 4.0 grade point
average, was named recipient of the 2010-11 St. Louis Park Athena
Award, given to the school’s top female athlete.